22nd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

The word “duped” makes it sound as if God tricked Jeremiah with false promises. From Hebrew this word could also mean enticed, persuaded, or attracted. Therefore, God did not trick Jeremiah with false promises for He warned him much earlier that he would face opposition. Jeremiah is expressing that he could not resist this prophetic call because he was enticed by God’s love and truth.

He was so swept up by the beauty and power of God’s call that he did not yet fully grasp how much human suffering would come with it. Despite that original attraction he now faced being mocked, thrown into a pit, and isolation from his own community. 

Jeremiah wanted to quit preaching because it brought him so much pain, but God’s word was “like a fire shut up in my bones.” Such a statement expresses what we as Christians must now come to know and believe, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

For us the cross isn’t something which is optional. Following God does not guarantee comfort, approval, or earthly success. Jeremiah was unable to escape the suffering that came with his calling, just as a true disciple of Christ cannot escape the cross. The cross is something which is always part of our life, but in embracing it we do not fail, but grow in our love for Him.

Jeremiah felt as if he were “duped” because his life has become ruined by his call from a worldly sense. Nevertheless, he surrendered to the “burning fire” rather than running away, he chose to remain faithful to God no matter the cost. Likewise, the cross comes first and it is the only road that will lead us to true life and the resurrection.

Peter shows his lack of understanding in all of this by taking Christ aside to protest, “God forbid, Lord!” Here Peter is thinking as human beings do, he wants the victory of the Messiah, but he wants it without the pain and ridicule that comes from the cross. Neither Jesus nor can we take the easy way out by abandoning the cross.

The spiritual life must move beyond a feeling for it demands something hard from us, that we choose to live our life for Christ. This means that we choose to stand firm with Him no matter the cost, even if it means that the world will mock us. Through embracing such a reality we take up the cross which transforms our heart into an enduring love for Christ that becomes who we are.

Jeremiah complained, vented, and felt betrayed, but he didn’t walk away. Peter panicked and tried to reject the cross, but eventually he took up his own. Likewise, we cannot get caught up in the glamour of faith without the cost that it brings. Let us choose to take up the cross and follow after Him instead of so easily turning away from it and thus too Christ.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Of the four gospels, Saint Matthew is the only to state, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Not only is this stated to Saint Peter, but only two chapters later it is stated again to the apostles as a collective whole.

What differs between these two exchanges is what was said to Peter alone, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” These keys are a reference to Isaiah, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

For the ancient kingdom of Judah, the royal steward, was the highest ranking official in the royal court, second in authority to only the king himself. It was he who managed the day to day administration of the kingdom and spoke and acted with full weight of the king’s authority. Jesus is the ultimate king of Israel who prior to ascending into heaven appoints Peter to manage His royal household, the Church, on earth.

When Shebna was removed from his office as steward the key was handed down to Eliakim because the office outlives the man who holds the key. Similarly, the papacy is not a temporary gift to Peter, but is a perpetual office passed down through apostolic succession to every Bishop of Rome which would include our current pope, Leo.

The pope is the guardian and not the author of the faith. It is his primary job to safeguard, defend, and pass down the Deposit of Faith. This being the divine revelation handed down from Christ and the Apostles through Scripture and Sacred Tradition. From the throne of Saint Peter he speaks infallibly (speaking as such is rare), but outside such a statement he can be wrong, misinformed, or make a poor decision.

The pope does not work in isolation in protecting the Deposit of Faith for he works in union with the College of Bishops. Together with the pope as its head, the College of Bishops possesses supreme and full power over the universal Church. We see such authority expressed through ecumenical councils and the universal magisterium. Cum et Sub Petro (With and Under Peter).

Therefore, the Deposit of Faith is not subject to modern political trends, culture wars, or the personal whims of an individual leader. It is the steward’s job to keep the house running on the King’s rules thus providing a stable foundation so that our faith stays rooted in Christ.

We cannot allow our own personal preferences to lead us astray from the unity of faith. Obedience is always the answer (even if difficult) for through obedience we place our trust in Christ and not the trends of the world which bring forth division. Let us always pray for our Holy Father (Leo), our Bishop (Mark), and the preservation of the unity of faith by all the people of God.

21st Sunday of OT Year A Homily (Parish Picnic)

This Saturday we gather for our parish picnic. This Saturday also happens to be the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Mary’s Queenship is defined by her maternal care and advocacy, not earthly domination. Her presence at the heart of the parish encourages a culture of mutual support, hospitality, and fidelity to the faith.

Such fidelity is signified by the keys which were presented to Saint Peter in our gospel. These keys signify order, continuity, and unity. The stewardship of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church exists to keep the flock together as one. At a time when division is common in our wider culture, celebrating a shared faith under one shepherd highlights the parish as a sanctuary of peace and oneness.

As we celebrate these sacred mysteries we enter into the depths of such unity. The Church embraces us where we have grown weary and reorients us towards the mercy that Christ alone brings. We are not a church community fragmented in thought, but one body brought togehter when we behold our Lord present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

As we depart from this sacred space let us take what we receive here with us out into the world in order that it may be lived. We must continue to work together as one instead of allowing division to enter into our community. Such oneness is expressed through mutual support of one another, a spirit of hospitality, and fidelity to the faith in its fullness.

Mary Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

20th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

At the Easter Vigil Mass begins in complete darkness until a fire is struck and the Paschal Candle representing the Risen Lord is processed into the church dispelling darkness from its midst. Once the candle reaches the sanctuary the Exsultet (The Easter Proclamation) is chanted recounting the history of salvation, culminating in the declaration of Adam’s happy fault.

“O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed, completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!” This does not mean that Adam’s sin was morally good; it means that God’s response to sin (sending Jesus Christ) resulted in a higher state of grace and union with God than humanity possessed even before the Fall.

The Exsultet calls Adam’s sin “happy” not because sin is good, but because of what God did in response to it. As Saint Thomas Aquinas stated in the Summa, “God allows evils to happen in order to bring a greater good therefrom; hence it is written: ‘Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

From Romans we heard pertaining to such disobedience that brought forth an outpouring of God’s mercy. The remedy that God provides due to such disobedience elevates humanity to a higher state than if Adam had never fallen. Redeemed people become partakers of the divine nature, an intimacy with God far exceeding even original innocence in the Garden.

Disobedience remains evil and bad in itself. However, through the lens of such a happy fault, human sin is not a defeat for God, but the ability to pour forth Redemptive Mercy upon us and upon the whole world. Through our human weakness we are able to make room for His mercy, which transforms our spiritual life.

O Happy fault reminds us that failure never has the final word. Despite however many times we fall into sin and repeat a persistent weakness it is easy to have shame and despair instead of making room for the virtue of hope. Instead of running away from God we must remember our total reliance on Him.

The Canaanite woman in our Gospel exemplified such an attitude where she turned to Him in total reliance and thus received an outpouring of His mercy. She does not come demanding healing as something already owed unto her, but in her lowliness she acknowledged her complete dependence upon God’s grace and thus she was told “O woman, great is your faith!”

Let us have such Christian faith modeled after this woman. We must stop giving into despair over our many mistakes, temptations, and sins. Instead let us entrust ourself to His mercy and grace especially that mercy and grace that awaits us in the sacrament of confession. Indeed, there is hope for us, brought forth from that “happy fault, that merited so exalted and so glorious a Redeemer!”

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary Homily

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Pope Pius XII stated that this event was a “manifestation of the hope” of all humanity. In the Creed we profess such a hope, “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Therefore, we cannot forget that Christ’s redemption redeems the whole human person, body and soul.

As Saint Paul states in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep… But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” 

Mary is the first among “those who belong to Christ” to receive that ultimate promise. She was united to Christ fully (after all she was declared to be “full of grace”), bearing Him in her body and standing by Him at the cross. Her glorified body in heaven serves as a preview of the bodily resurrection that has been promised to every believer at the end of time.

What has already happened to Mary is what the Church as a collective body hopes to experience when Christ restores creation. She has reached the destination toward which every pilgrim Christian is currently walking. May she pray for us that we may seriously come to pursue such a life that leads us towards such Heavenly glory.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!